A Comparison of Textbooks

[MystidPurple]

Is it a bad thing that my school is still working out of textbooks last reprinted in 1998?

[Steth0scope]

Not really - the maths syllabus hasn't really changed over time. The thing that does change is the way they ask exam questions. You can be prepared for that by doing HSC past papers.

In my opinion, Coroneos is THE best. He has the best explanations before each exercise that ensure you are able to do any of the questions in that exercise. It is the perfect book if you have a crap maths teacher and want to teach yourself. If you only want to buy ONE book, you should be buying Coroneos. If you want more than one, I'd suggest Cambridge or Fitzpatrick with Coroneos.

[nottellingu]

Maths in focus: If you have a crap teacher and desperately need to get a hang of things then its the way to go. If ur only relying on maths in focus ur heading towards failure. The book doesnt hav any questions that arent easy and when a hard question pops up in the test u wouldnt have the required practice and strong foundation that u need to gain near full marks

Fitzpatrick: This is a pretty good book. It has a couple of important worked examples and has questions from easy > challenging. However the downside to this book is that it often doesnt treat a particular part of the syllabus to great detail (eg. in 3u parametrics and mathematical induction) and doesnt have full answers for curve sketching q's.

Cambridge: I reckon this is the best book on the market. It has a lot of questions from the fundamental stuff to the impossible. The questions until the bottom part of the development section must be done and arent really that difficult. Its often good to fiddle around with the odd extension question to improve ur ability to work around difficult questions. The explanations this book has is pretty iffy if u ask me. Its usually very theoretical and hard to understand, so its not the best if u want to do alot of self learning but it does have worked examples b4 each exercise.

Jones & couchman: Yea...its alright i guess. I wouldnt recommend it though...i dont know why, just dont like it.

Coroneos i imagine is a good book. I havent seen the 2u book but from what ive heard its a solid book.

Terry lee is another one I havent used or seen but if the 2u book is anything lyk the 4u book i say go for it.

In conclusion, ur best bet would be to go with fitzpartick and cambridge givning you plenty of questions with variety. Befor your exams go hard with past papers and u should be heading towards HSC success.

Hope that helps

[nottellingu]

lol, are you serious? =\

with all due respect, Coroneos is by far the best course book. For 2u, 3u AND 4u.

Coroneo doesnt have curve sketching and barely has any questions on conics. But i have to say the complex numbers and integration is much better than other books.

[jkwii]

for 4U u gotta use patel and coroneos

cambridge is ok but not enough questions and too many examples, terry lee just has worked solutions and more Qs and fitzpatrick is the minimum for a student to do... i use patel mainly and coroneos for more questions... doing conics now

[juggernaut]

coroneos = ugliest text book ever. its like everything is crammed onto one page. you open your page to a sea of ugly crammed black font, no logical layout, no coherence. immediately your eyes dont know where to focus, you lose your chain of thought.

really bad book for learning concepts. good questions though


cambridge in combination with fitzpatrick for theory+practice, coroneus for practice only ftw


also another thing i hate about coroneos book is that it doesnt stay open, you need to leave another text book on the open page. absolutely fuckin annoying

[lacklustre]

also another thing i hate about coroneos book is that it doesnt stay open, you need to leave another text book on the open page. absolutely fuckin annoying

Yeah I hate that, not just with maths books either.

I need some sort of stand that holds the books open for me cause frequently I am referring to two books at the same time and it's hell keeping them both open. (unless I crease the spine way back - which i don't want, because I plan on selling).

[locked.on]

Cambridge/Fitzpatrick sounds good and works for me; currently what I'm using.

[ron.0409]

i get the pros and cons stuff but how would you rank the 2 unit textbooks for year 12... which ones the best?

[shaon0]

I've (Slidey) compiled a brief summary of the pros and cons of each textbook. If you disagree, feel free to discuss it here in this thread. =)

And this isn't an attempt to sell these books. Use your library. It's free that way.

pLuvia: I've updated this thread to make available to all levels of HSC maths and all your suggestions

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Content

General Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics Extension 1
Mathematics Extension 2
Study Guides
Links
Where to buy?

General Mathematics

HSC General Maths Practice Questions by Topic

Cambridge General Mathematics

Success One HSC General Mathematics

Mathematics

Fitzpatrick 2u
+ This book is great. It's good at all the areas: Good diagrams, good explanations, many question to practice with.
+ The questions are the strength of this text. They cover the entire spectrum of skills which students require and lead you into the hard questions progressively.
+ The harder questions often involve interesting skills which are not taught at a 2u level but would be classified as "component B", of which the HSC must comprise at least 20%. Thus it is worth your while to try these questions.
+ Of all the textbooks, this one is the easiest to cram with.
+ Specimen papers at the end of the book for revision
- No worked solutions.

Cambridge 2u
+ Plenty of questions
+ 3 different levels of questions designed to suit students with varying abilities including development and extension
- Not all questions are useful for practice excercises
- No worked solutions
- Heavier than most other textbooks

Conceptual Development: Maths In Focus
+ This book is excellent at explaining most things and for developing the basic skills for each topic. So if you find yourself struggling to understand a topic, try this book.
- Theory is too simplified
- Many Extension students dislike this book because it is too easy and does not contain many, if any, hard questions.
- If you have the 3U copy it is hard to tell whether or not a topic is part of the 2U or 3U course. A second edition has been published differentiating between 2u and 3u topics
- Examples provided are very simple and usually do not help with harder questions.
- No worked solutions. Some worked solutions

Coroneos
+ Wide variety of questions
- Explanations aren't too great
- No worked solutions

Mathematics Extension 1

Cambridge 3u
+ Plenty of questions
+ Extension questions available
- Not all questions are useful for practice excercises
- No worked solutions
- Heavier than most other textbooks

Fitzpatrick 3u
+ Good explanations
+ Good questions
+ The challenging questions are not always the last ones
+ Speciman papers at the end of the book for revision
- No worked solutions
- Few solutions to graph questions

Essentials of Mathematics, book 2
+ Worked out solutions
+ Good questions

Mathematics Extension 2

Terry Lee Advanced Mathematics
+ Worked out solutions
+ Good set out
+ Easy to understand
+ Review Exercises available
+ Challenge questions for each topic
- Explanations aren't too great

Cambridge 4u
+ Questions are excellent
+ Review exercises at the end of each topic, plus some challenge questions
+ Authors write the 4u Maths CSSA Trial
+ Specimen papers at the end for revision
- Explanations are sometimes not clear
- Answers are not numbered
- Not very appealing
- No worked solutions

Fitzpatrick 4u
+ Questions are good, but not so challenging
+ Explanations are good in some areas
+ Speciman papers at the end of the book for revision
- No worked solutions

Study guides

Understanding Year 11/12 Maths:
+ Easy questions to practice with.
+ Good for cramming
- Questions are TOO easy.

Excel
+ Some challenging questions
+ Has worked solutions
- Just a textbook with less questions to practice on and more examples
- Wouldn't advise for cramming
- May have many mistakes (so watch out!)

Past Paper Collection by the Mathematical Association of NSW for General, 2u, 3u and 4u Maths
+ Has many past papers
+ Great for practice
+ Fully worked solutions for the Past Papers

Links

What maths textbook are you using?
Maths textbooks
The textbook thread (special edition)
HSC Online
Resource Section

Where to buy?

These books are available nearly everywhere here's a list I compiled
- Local Library
- School library
- Your maths teacher
- Buy/Sell forum
- Terry Lee books
- Dymocks
- Co-op shops
- Angus & Robertson
- Borders
- Kinokuniya
- WHSmith

my school's maths co-ordinator co-authored the Cambride 4unit. So it is really good.

[2inspr]

At least you guys are given books that were made after you were born. We are using the green Jones and Couchman books. The two books we have were last updated in 1982 and 1983. Why is it that they replace the year 7 books before year 12? All the juniors ever do is break them. Anyway I have the Fitzpatrick, its better than the J&Cs, just a bit confusing with some of the explanations.

Lol yer im using those books too

Just think of it this way math hasnt really changed that much in 20 odd years so go with it.

A good book to get is Success One series

it has 15+ years of past exams with worked answers

it can be bought for a variety of subjects

[5647382910]

Hey... im currently in yr 10doing the accelerated course and IVE RUN OUT OF QUESTIONS TO DO!!!!! Ive completely finished maths in focus (both yr 11 and 12 whihch were both too easy) and I dont want to do the Past HSC paper Q's just yet (as i want to do them each as a whole test and time myself)... Should i buy another textbook just for the sake of more and harder Q's and if so which one? BTW ive found this book on the internet does anyone know about it:
http://www.dymocks.com.au/ProductDet...=9780646178912

[bored of sc]

You said: "im currently in yr 10doing the accelerated course and IVE RUN OUT OF QUESTIONS TO DO!!!!! Ive completely finished maths in focus"

I say: WOW!

[bubblesss]

You said: "im currently in yr 10doing the accelerated course and IVE RUN OUT OF QUESTIONS TO DO!!!!! Ive completely finished maths in focus"

I say: WOW!

lol
+1

[Timothy.Siu]

Hey... im currently in yr 10doing the accelerated course and IVE RUN OUT OF QUESTIONS TO DO!!!!! Ive completely finished maths in focus (both yr 11 and 12 whihch were both too easy) and I dont want to do the Past HSC paper Q's just yet (as i want to do them each as a whole test and time myself)... Should i buy another textbook just for the sake of more and harder Q's and if so which one? BTW ive found this book on the internet does anyone know about it:
http://www.dymocks.com.au/ProductDet...=9780646178912

do the last 10 or so chapters in fitz

[Grey Council]

most of the complaints against coroneos are fairly irrelevant, and not even true.

keeping the book open? ugly text? bad layout?

first of all, its maths, its not painting or something. secondly, its not that bad at all, dunno which version of the book you have, but my one the layout is extremely logical, the examples are good and explanation is superb. very easy to follow, in fact, its DESIGNED FOR THE STUDENT WHO WANTS TO TEACH HIM/HER SELF.
no other book is like that.

and having to keep book open??? wtf? haha, never happened to me
and that person who said coroneos doesn't have conics and w/e, you need to buy the coroneos supplement, i think. its a thin, blue a4 sized textbook, pretty sure it covers everything. well, tbh, i dont really remember what book has what, but i certainly don't remember ever thinking that coroneos was missing something

and a book isn't good just because it has hard questions, thats just stupid. lots of people say cambridge is good because of that, who cares :/ you want to learn the basics properly, do the questions so the basics set in, then do past papers. whats the point of doing crazy hard questions that won't be asked in an exam? oh and btw, most people dont even do the hard questions, they are just too hard. fitzpatrick is like that in some areas too. i still remember circle geo in 3u fitz, I did it cause i loved circle geo, but it was the biggest waste of time. like 100 questions that were 4u standard easily, if not higher. in fact, i got some of the solutions from the 4u forum, can prolly check my "recent" posts and see for yourself.

[bmn]

I'm thinking of buying Cambridge 3u textbook... Our school gives us maths in focus... I completed the yr 12 book of it within 4 weeks after I got it... Not even goin fast...

Kind of a dumb question, but does year 12 Cambridge 3u book include a) Yr 11 stuff needed for exam and b) Normal/harder 2u stuff?

[micuzzo]

I'm thinking of buying Cambridge 3u textbook... Our school gives us maths in focus... I completed the yr 12 book of it within 4 weeks after I got it... Not even goin fast...

Kind of a dumb question, but does year 12 Cambridge 3u book include a) Yr 11 stuff needed for exam and b) Normal/harder 2u stuff?

maths in focus isnt that bad... sure its a bit simplistic but if u do all the questions in htat and some past papers... i think its all u need

[Timothy.Siu]

maths in focus isnt that bad... sure its a bit simplistic but if u do all the questions in htat and some past papers... i think its all u need

probably true to an extent, after u know the basics of everything thoroughly then u cud just do 100's of past papers and learn from them and u'll fine

[live.fast]

All you need for Maths is an excel book, and a past papers book. Then you're set. It's all I used anyway, and I didn't do too badly.

[Kaatie]

how did you get third in the state with a mark of 100? how can anyone beat that?

[Kaatie]

oh and Fitzpatrick 2u does it come with yr 11 stuff in it or can you buy one just for year 12?

[Timothy.Siu]

oh and Fitzpatrick 2u does it come with yr 11 stuff in it or can you buy one just for year 12?

its both yr 11 and 12

[~caramello~]

Fitzpatrick and Cambridge is all you need for 2 and 3 unit maths...and past papers.

[hollyy.]

maths in focus - green/purple yay.
but i had a dead set awesome teacher.